Leaving Jesus behind

A few months ago a friend told me about a conversation he’d had with an atheist in Colorado Springs. That Colorado city, the Mecca of American evangelical Christianity, may be the last place an atheist would feel at home. But there he was, right in the middle of a lion’s den. My friend had met him and started talking to him about Jesus. The man was interested. Even those who feel that facing a Christian is like being a piece of meat held out to hungry lions are often attracted to Jesus. After they had studied the Gospels for a few weeks, the atheist’s fascination with Jesus grew, but he was puzzled about his spiritual guide. “What kind of Christian are you?” he inquired of my friend. “If you really want to slap a label on me, it should probably be ‘evangelical,’” my friend said. “You can’t be an evangelical,” responded his interlocutor. “You are talking about Jesus!”